Phosphazene trimer purification

ABSTRACT

Cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer suitable for polymerization to light colored, high molecular weight, linear polyphosphonitrilic chloride can be made by (1) reacting PCl5 and NH4Cl in an inert solvent (e.g. monochlorobenzene) to form a solution of a low molecular weight linear and cyclophosphonitrilic chlorides, (2) evaporating solvent to form a concentrate, (3) adding water and cooling the mixture to precipitate cyclic trimer, (4) separation of the trimer precipitate and (5) distillation of the separated trimer.

BACKGROUND

High molecular weight linear phosphonitrilic chloride polymers are used to make a broad range of useful polyphosphazenes by substitution of the chlorine atoms with various groups such as phenoxide, alkylphenoxide, fluoroalkoxide and the like. These polyphosphazenes can be used to make articles such as foam insulation, o-rings, hydraulic seals, wire and cable insulation, hose liners and the like. The high molecular weight linear phosphonitrilic chloride polymers used to make the various substituted polyphosphazenes can be made by the thermal polymerization of cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer, preferably using a catalyst as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,503 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,840. Not all trimer can be successfully polymerized to form a linear polyphosphonitrilic chloride. Early attempts at the thermal polymerization of phosphonitrilic chloride trimer lead to the formation of hard, cross-linked polymers that were of little use. The secret to obtaining linear polymers rather than the hard, cross-linked polymers was found to be related to the purity of the phosphonitrilic chloride trimer. Various methods have been tried to purify trimer to obtain trimer that could be successfully polymerized to high molecular weight linear polymers. Such purified trimers are referred to herein as "polymer grade trimers". Various purification methods are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,008,799; U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,353; U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,510; U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,720; U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,171; U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,086; U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,113 and GB No. 2,114,111.

SUMMARY

It has now been discovered that polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer (hereinafter "trimer") can be consistently obtained from crude trimer by forming a solution of the crude trimer in a solvent such as monochlorobenzene, heating the solution to distill off solvent forming a concentrate, adding water to the concentrate, cooling the concentrate to precipitate trimer forming a slurry, separating the precipitated trimer from the slurry and distilling the separated precipitate to first remove a small forecut and then distill a major heart-cut of polymer grade trimer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the invention is a process for making polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer from a crude mixture of phosphonitrilic chlorides containing said trimer in addition to higher cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride polymers and linear phosphonitrilic chloride oligomers, said process comprising

(a) forming a hot concentrated solution of said crude mixture in an inert solvent,

(b) adding water to said hot concentrate and cooling the mixture thereby causing said trimer to precipitate forming a slurry,

(c) separating said trimer from said slurry and,

(d) distilling the separated trimer to recover polymer grade trimer.

Solvents which can be used include any inert liquid which will dissolve the crude mixture when hot (e.g. 50°-100° C.) but precipitate the trimer content when cooled (e.g. -10° to 30° C.). These include toluene, xylene, hexane, heptane, octane, carbontetrachloride, chloroform, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, perchloroethane, chlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene, bromobenzene, chlorotoluene, dichlorotoluene, chlorobromobenzene and the like including mixtures thereof. Of these the more preferred solvents are the halogenated benzenes such as monochlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene, trichlorobenzene, monobromobenzene, dibromobenzene, chlorobromobenzene and the like including mixtures thereof. The most preferred solvent is monochlorobenzene.

The initial trimer solution can be made by merely dissolving the impure trimer in an appropriate solvent. The initial solution should include sufficient solvent to maintain the crude trimer including impurities in solution at elevated temperatures. The crude trimer contains impurities such as higher cyclics including tetramer, pentamer and the like as well as some linear oligomeric phosphonitrilic chlorides. Generally, the initial solution contains in excess of 50 weight percent solvent and preferably in excess of 70 weight percent solvent and about 30-10 weight percent of a crude mixture containing a substantial amount of cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer. Any solids that remain undissolved should be removed by means such as filtration.

The solution is then heated to evaporate or distill off a portion of the solvent to form a hot concentrate. The distillation can be conducted at atmospheric pressure or at reduced pressure. Preferably vacuum is applied to moderate the temperature in the distillation re-boiler. Frequently it is not necessary to apply vacuum at the start of the solvent distillation but towards the end of the distillation vacuum is applied to keep the temperature of the residual concentrate from exceeding about 200° C. and preferably below 175° C. and most preferably below about 150° C. The distillation is continued until the residual hot concentrate has a trimer concentration which will cause precipitation of trimer upon cooling of the concentrate to temperatures in the range of 5° to about 40° C. and preferably upon cooling to ambient temperature. Preferably the hot concentrate will contain less than 50 weight percent solvent and more preferably less than about 40 weight percent solvent. Using monochlorobenzene as the solvent, good precipitation has been achieved with a concentrate containing about 2-40 weight percent monochlorobenzene and the balance crude trimer. At low solvent concentration precipitation may start before water addition without detrimental results.

Water is then added to the hot concentrate forming two liquid phases and cooling the mixture. The mixture is stirred as it cools further and a substantial amount of the trimer content precipitates forming a slurry. In a less preferred embodiment the concentrate is first cooled and then the water is added. Alternatively the water can be gradually added during the cooling cycle to form the slurry.

A beneficial function of the water is that it increases the volume of the liquid phase so that the trimer slurry can be stirred and transferred but does not increase the amount of trimer that remains in solution because trimer is insoluble in the water phase. At the same time the water extracts any water-soluble impurities into the water phase.

The volume of water should be an amount that results in a workable trimer slurry. In general a volume of about 0.1-20 times the volume of the hot concentrate can be used. Preferably the volume of water is about 50-150% of the volume of hot concentrate.

The water-concentrate mixture is allowed to cool to a temperature such that a substantial portion of the dissolved trimer precipitates. Preferably at least 50 weight percent and more preferably at least 60 weight percent of the dissolved trimer is precipitated on cooling. The cooled water-concentrate mixture can be at temperatures ranging from just above the freezing point of the aqueous phase up to about 40° C. Preferably the cooled concentrate is near ambient temperature, e.g. 20°-30° C.

The precipitated crystalline trimer is then separated from the liquid phase. This can be done by conventional means such as filtration or centrifugation. Filtration has been used in development work. It is then preferred to wash the separated precipitate with water and optionally with an aliphatic hydrocarbon that can be easily removed from the precipitate by evaporation or during the initial portion of the subsequent distillation. Aliphatic hydrocarbons having a boiling temperature of about 50°-150° C., more preferably about 60°-90° C. can be used. Some examples are hexane, heptane, octane, petroleum ethers and the like including mixtures thereof.

Although not essential, the crystalline trimer is preferably dried at this stage to remove residual water and solvent prior to distillation.

The crystalline trimer is next placed in a distillation vessel. It is preferred that the trimer be handled under an inert atmosphere such as a nitrogen atmosphere. The distillation apparatus need not be a multi-plate rectification column. A simple distillation unit is adequate although a multi-plate distillation unit can be used. The trimer is heated above its melting point (appx. 115° C.) to melt the trimer. Preferably vacuum is applied while heating to assist in removal of any residual solvents or water. The molten trimer is then heated to about 130°-250° C., more preferably about 150°-175° C. and the pressure is reduced until distillation occurs. Generally the pressure will be in the range of about 10-600 Torr depending on temperature. Excellent results have been achieved at a reduced pressure of about 10-25 Torr at a liquid temperature range of about 130°-220° C. from the start to the finish of the distillation.

Initially a forecut is removed which contains low boiling impurities. The amount of forecut removed should be at least 0.1 weight percent of the crystalline precipitate charged to the distillation vessel. More preferably the forecut is at least 1.0 weight percent of the distillation charge. There is no real upper limit but excessive forecut removal will lower the recovery of purified trimer and thus be uneconomical. A good range to operate in is to remove about 1-10 weight percent of the precipitated trimer charged to the distillation as a forecut.

After the forecut is removed and segregated, a middlecut or heart-cut is distilled over which represents the polymer grade trimer. Distillation of the heart-cut can be continued until the re-boiler liquid temperature approaches temperatures which cause decomposition or polymerization or until no further trimer distills over at the temperature/pressure conditions at which the main portion of the trimer distilled. It is preferred that the re-boiler liquid should not exceed about 200° C.

A highly preferred way to obtain the initial crude cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer solution is to make the crude trimer in the same solvent used for crystallization. Thus, a highly preferred embodiment of the invention is a process for making polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer, said process comprising

(a) reacting ammonium chloride with phosphorus pentachloride in an inert solvent at 100°-160° C. to form a solution of impure phosphonitrilic chloride trimer, said solution containing more than 50 weight percent solvent,

(b) distilling a portion of said solvent from said solution to obtain a hot concentrate containing less than 50 weight percent solvent,

(c) adding water to said hot concentrate,

(d) cooling the hot concentrate-water mixture to a temperature which causes cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer to precipitate forming a slurry,

(e) separating said trimer precipitate from said slurry and

(f) distilling said trimer precipitate to obtain polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer.

In a highly preferred embodiment step (f) is carried out by distilling said trimer precipitate to first remove a forecut of at least 0.1 weight percent of said trimer precipitate to form a topped trimer and (g) continuing the distillation to recover a heart-cut of polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer.

Examples of solvents in which the trimer can be made include those that have been listed previously. The preferred solvents are the same halogenated benzenes such as monochlorobenzene, monobromobenzene, dichlorobenzene, chlorobromobenzene and the like including mixtures thereof. The most preferred solvent is monochlorobenzene.

The crude trimer is made by the known procedure of reacting ammonium chloride and phosphorus pentachloride in a solvent. Instead of ammonium chloride it is possible to use the combination of NH₃ and HCl which is equivalent to NH₄ Cl. Likewise, the combination of PCl₃ and Cl₁₂ can be used as the equivalent of PCl₅. In making the phosphonitrilic chloride cyclic trimer, the stoichiometric mole ratio is 1:1. However, in order to maximize formation of cyclics it is preferred to use a slight excess of NH₄ Cl. A useful reactant ratio is about 1-1.5 moles of NH₄ Cl per mole of PCl₅. A more preferred ratio is about 1.05-1.25:1.0.

Preferably the reaction is conducted by slowly adding the PCl₅ to the NH₄ Cl slurried in the reaction solvent over a 2-4 hour period at reaction temperature of about 100°-160° C.

The amount of solvent should be such that the resultant reaction mixture contains more than 50 weight percent solvent, more preferably in excess of 60 weight percent solvent and most preferably about 70-90 weight percent solvent.

Following the addition of the PCl₅, the mixture of NH₄ Cl and PCl₅ in the solvent (e.g. monochlorobenzene) is stirred at reaction temperature for a period sufficient to form a substantial amount of cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride.

A useful reaction temperature is about 100°-160° C., more preferably about 110°-150° C. and most preferably about 120°-140° C. In some cases a pressure system will be required to achieve the higher temperature because of the solvent boiling point. For example, monochlorobenzene boils at about 132° C. at atmospheric pressure so above atmospheric pressure would be required to exceed this temperature. However good yields of cyclic phosphonitrilic chlorides high in trimer can be achieved in mono-chlorobenzene at temperatures of about 120°-130° C. so use of a pressure reactor is not required. Also conducting the reaction in a refluxing solvent makes temperature control much easier.

The reaction to form the crude trimer solution from NH₄ Cl and PCl₅ is usually complete in about 3-5 hours including PCl₅ addition time and post-addition cook depending upon reaction temperature. At a reaction temperature of 125° C. the reaction is complete in about 5 hours.

Following the formation of the initial solution of crude trimer there is generally some unreacted NH₄ Cl remaining. This can be removed at this stage by filtration. This is not essential because any such NH₄ Cl will also be later extracted into the water phase.

The clear filtrate is then heated to distill off solvent to form a hot concentrate in the same manner as previously described. The addition of water, cooling, precipitation, trimer separation and trimer distillation are likewise conducted in the manner previously described.

The following examples serve to show how the process is conducted.

EXAMPLE 1

In a reaction vessel was placed 10845 ml monochlorobenzene and sufficient NH₃ and HCl were injected to form 834.6 grams of finely divided NH₄ Cl. Over a 3.8 hour period 2500 grams of PCl₁₅ in 5600 ml monochlorobenzene was added to the stirred mixture at 129° C. Stirring was continued at reaction temperature for an additional hour. The resultant solution was then filtered. The filtrate was then concentrated by distilling off monochlorobenzene under vacuum up to a 85° C. re-boiler liquid temperature. The resultant concentrate contained about 32 weight percent monochlorobenzene and the remainder was the crude trimer. At this stage 547 ml of water was added to the hot concentrate while stirring and the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature while stirring. The trimer precipitated forming a slurry. The trimer precipitate was separated from the slurry by filtration, washed with water and dried. The dried precipitate (81 grams) was then placed in a round bottom flask fitted with a distillation head. The precipitate was heated while 20 inches Hg vacuum was applied. Heating was continued up to a flask temperature of about 130° C. while pressure was gradually reduced to about 15 Torr. During this stage a small forecut was distilled. Following removal of the forecut, a heart-cut was distilled at 130°-140° C. overhead at 16 Torr. During the distillation the re-boiler reached a maximum temperature of about 170° C. The heart-cut was analyzed by ³¹ P-NMR as 99.6 weight percent cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer and 0.4 weight percent tetramer.

Polymerization

The above polymer grade phosphonitrilic chloride trimer (30 g) was placed in a clean glass ampule together with 36 mg of triphenyl phosphate--BCl₁₃ complex (cf U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,840). The ampule was sealed under vacuum and heated at 220° C. for 10 hours. The ampule was then cooled and broken and the polymer was dissolved in a cyclohexane. At this stage the solution was analyzed by ³¹ P-NMR to determine the conversion of trimer to linear polyphosphonitrilic chloride. The linear polyphosphonitrilic chloride was then coagulated by adding heptane in an amount twice as much as the cyclohexane. The solvent was decanted and the coagulate was washed with heptane and decanted. The coagulate was then dissolved in 150 ml toluene and evaporated to dryness in a vacuum oven. The LVN ("limiting viscosity number") was determined on a solution of 0.33 g polymer in 100 ml toluene containing 0.5 weight percent tri-n-octylamine using an Ubbelohde Viscosimeter. The LVN is a measure of molecular weight. Preferred linear phosphonitrilic chloride polymers have an LVN of about 0.8-1.75, more preferably 1.0-1.5. The dried linear polyphosphonitrilic chloride had a light color and an LVN of 2.3.

EXAMPLE 2

This reaction was conducted in the same manner as Example 1 except the polymerization time was 7.5 hours. The purified cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride analyzed 97.61 weight percent trimer and 2.39 weight percent tetramer. Conversion to a high molecular weight (LVN 1.5) gel free light colored linear polymer was 71%.

EXAMPLE 3

This reaction was conducted in the same manner as Example 1 except solvent removal was continued to give a hot concentrate containing only 5 weight percent monochlorobenzene and the polymerization time was 5 hours. The purified cyclic trimer analyzed 97.61 weight percent trimer and 2.39 weight percent tetramer. Conversion to a gel free colorless linear high molecular weight (LVN 1.4) phosphonitrilic chloride polymer was 54%.

Surprisingly neither distillation nor crystallization alone will consistently yield a polymer grade cyclic trimer. Even when the trimer analyzes very pure, it was found that it would not consistently polymerize to a light colored gel-free linear high molecular weight polymer.

EXAMPLES 4-7

In these comparative examples crude cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride was made in the monochlorobenzene following the same procedure described in Example 1 except that the crude trimer synthesis temperature was 128° C. The resultant solution was filtered to remove unreacted NH₄ Cl and then distilled in a three-plate Oldershaw distillation column at a 1:1 reflux ratio and a reduced pressure of 27 Torr. The trimer cut was removed at 149°-151° C. and were analyzed by ³¹ P-NMR to be apparently very pure as shown in the following table.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         Example        Trimer       Tetramer                                           ______________________________________                                         4              99.76        0.24                                               5              99.59        0.41                                               6              99.42        0.51                                               7              99.71        0.29                                               ______________________________________                                    

This distilled trimer was polymerized as in Example 1 for a 20 hour period. The results are shown in the following table.

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                                    Conversion   LVN of                                                 Example    to Polymer   Polymer    Color                                       ______________________________________                                         4          49%          0.39       dark                                        5          50%          0.37       dark                                        6          60%          0.56       dark                                        7          37%          0.48       dark                                        ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLES 8-11

In these examples the crude trimer was made in monochlorobenzene as in Example 1. The synthesis temperature was 122° C. The trimer solution was filtered and distilled in a ten-plate Oldershaw column at a 10:1 reflux ratio. Analysis of the trimer cut indicated 100% trimer. These apparantly pure trimers were polymerized for 20 hours at 220° C. in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in the following table.

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                                    Conversion   LVN of                                                 Example    to Polymer   Polymer    Color                                       ______________________________________                                          8         57%          0.59       black                                        9         67%          0.97       black                                       10         51%          0.48       black                                       11         58%          0.8        clear                                       ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLES 12-13

In these comparative examples, the crude cyclic trimer solution was made following the same procedure used in Examples 8-10. The crude trimer solution were filtered and then monochlorobenzene was distilled out to give concentrated containing about 32 weight percent monochorobenzene. This concentrate was allowed to cool to room temperature forming a precipitate which was filtered off and washed with heptane. The crystalline precipitate analyzed as follows.

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                         Example        Trimer       Tetramer                                           ______________________________________                                         12             92.8         7.2                                                13             95.83        2.53                                               ______________________________________                                    

These crystallized trimers were polymerized for 20 and 12 hours respectively at 220° C. as in Example 1 with the following results.

                  TABLE 5                                                          ______________________________________                                                    Conversion   LVN of                                                 Example    to Polymer   Polymer    Color                                       ______________________________________                                         12         23%          --         OK                                          13         57%          gel        amber                                       ______________________________________                                    

Comparative Examples 4-13 clearly show that neither crystallization nor distillation alone is capable of consistently giving polymer grade trimer. Examples 8-11 are of special interest in showing that even though the trimers might analyze as apparantly pure, they still contain some unknown material that results in a black polymer. At present it is not understood why otherwise satisfactory purification techniques fail to consistently give high molecular weight gel-free linear polymers of the desired viscosity and color. What is known is that the present process using the combination of crystallization in a water-solvent mixture and distillation has consistently given a gel-free high molecular weight linear phosphonitrilic chloride polymer. 

We claim:
 1. A process for making polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer from a crude mixture of phosphonitrilic chlorides containing said trimer in addition to higher cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride polymers and linear phosphonitrilic chloride oligomers, said process comprising(a) forming a hot concentrated solution of said crude mixture in less than 50 weight percent of inert solvent, (b) adding water to said hot concentrate and cooling the resultant water-solvent mixture thereby causing said trimer to precipitate forming a slurry, (c) separating said trimer precipitate from said slurry and, (d) distilling the separated trimer precipitate to recover polymer grade trimer.
 2. A process of claim 1 wherein said inert solvent comprises a major amount of a halogenated benzene.
 3. A process of claim 2 wherein said halogenated benzene is monochlorobenzene.
 4. A process of claim 1 wherein said inert solvent consist essentially of a halogenated benzene.
 5. A process of claim 4 wherein said halogenated benzene is monochlorobenzene.
 6. A process of claim 2 wherein said halogenated benzene is monochlorobenzene.
 7. A process of claim 6 wherein said solvent consist essentially of monochlorobenzene.
 8. A process of claim 7 wherein said hot concentrate contains about 2-40 weight percent monochlorobenzene.
 9. A process for making polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer, said process comprising(a) reacting ammonium chloride with phosphorus pentachloride in a halogenated benzene solvent at 100°-160° C. to form a solution of impure cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer, said solution containing more than 50 weight percent halogenated benzene solvent, (b) distilling a portion of said halogenated benzene solvent from said solution to obtain a hot concentrate containing less than about 50 weight percent halogenated benzene, (c) adding water to said hot concentrate, (d) cooling the concentrate-water mixture to a temperature which causes cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer to precipitate forming a slurry, (e) separating said trimer precipitate from said slurry and (f) distilling said trimer precipitate to obtain polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer.
 10. A process of claim 9 wherein said solution of impure cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer formed in step (a) is filtered to remove insoluble materials.
 11. A process of claim 9 wherein said halogenated benzene solvent consist of a major amount of monochlorobenzene.
 12. A process of claim 11 wherein said distilling in steps (b) and (e) is conducted at reduced pressure.
 13. A process of claim 12 wherein said hot concentrate contains no more than about 40 weight percent solvent.
 14. A process for making a polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer, said process comprising(a) reacting about 1.0-1.5 moles of ammonium chloride with 1 mole of phosphorus pentachloride in a monochlorobenzene solvent at a temperature of 100°-150° C. to form a solution of impure cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer, said solution comprising at least 70 weight percent monochlorobenzene, (b) distilling monochlorobenzene from said solution to form a hot concentrate which comprises less than about 50 weight percent monochlorobenzene, (c) adding water to said concentrate, (d) cooling said concentrate-water mixture to a temperature which causes precipitation of cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer forming a slurry, (e) separating said cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer from said slurry, (f) distilling a forecut of at least 0.1 weight percent of said trimer precipitate from said trimer precipitate leaving topped trimer and, (g) distilling said topped trimer to obtain as the distillate said polymer grade cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer.
 15. A process of claim 14 wherein said solution of impure cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride trimer formed in step (a) is filtered to remove unreacted ammonium chloride.
 16. A process of claim 15 wherein said distilling in steps (f) and (g) is conducted at reduced pressure of about 10-600 mm Hg absolute.
 17. A process of claim 16 wherein said distilling in step (b) is conducted at a reduced pressure to form a hot concentrate which contains about 2-40 weight percent monochlorobenzene.
 18. A process of claim 17 wherein said cyclic phosphonitrilic chloride precipitate separated in step (e) is washed with water prior to distilling. 